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Spoleto Festival USA 2027 is the main event of the year with the participation of world classical music stars.
If you are interested in this schedule leave a request. As soon as the playbill is announced, we will let you know immediately, and you will be the first to get the tickets.
In each section, you will get the best seats for the same price - centrally located and in front rows.
We provide seats with the best acoustics only.
Even in the world's best concert halls and opera houses, the listening conditions can vary greatly, and some seats are better than others. Sometimes nearby seats have very different viewing and listening conditions.
Usually, these seats are sold out soon and available for early bookers only. We guarantee that you will receive full-view seats only.
Detailed information about the 2026 Festival will be added later.
The Spoleto Festival USA 2026 took place from 22 May to 7 June 2026 in Charleston, South Carolina. Its 17-day programme brought together opera, orchestral and chamber music, jazz, dance and theatre across historic venues throughout the city. The festival’s 2026 season also reflected on the 250th anniversary of American independence, with artistic works exploring freedom, cultural identity and the power of creative expression.
Opera takes a distinctive place in the programme with two contrasting productions. Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, turns the Dock Street Theatre into a playful live radio broadcast, complete with period microphones and sound effects. Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, combines the emotional intensity of Baroque opera with the acrobatic artistry of Australian physical-theatre company Circa.
The classical music programme features the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, led by Music Director Timothy Myers, in Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, alongside American orchestral works. The chamber music series brings internationally renowned instrumentalists to the historic Dock Street Theatre, while the Festival Chorus performs Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and a programme celebrating American composers.
Among the festival’s prominent guests are Renée Fleming and Béla Fleck, presenting The Fiddle and the Drum, a musical exploration of Appalachian traditions. The jazz programme includes trumpeter Terence Blanchard, pianist Jason Moran and percussionist Pedrito Martinez. Outdoor concerts at Cistern Yard feature artists including Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile, Molly Tuttle, Punch Brothers and the Indigo Girls.
Dance and theatre add further variety. The Martha Graham Dance Company celebrates its centennial with Graham 100, while Scottish Ballet presents the US premiere of Mary, Queen of Scots. Theatre highlights include Patrick Page’s All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain and George + George, a new comedy set during the American Revolution.
About the Spoleto Festival USA
Spoleto Festival USA was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to create an American counterpart to the annual Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, that he founded in 1958. Looking for a city that would provide the charm of Spoleto as well as its wealth of theaters, churches and other performances spaces, Menotti selected Charleston as the ideal location.
The historic city provided a perfect fit: it was intimate enough that the Festival would captivate the entire city, yet cosmopolitan enough to provide an enthusiastic audience and robust infrastructure. Championed by a young Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. and College of Charleston’s then-president Theodore Stern, Spoleto Festival USA held its inaugural season in 1977.
“Spoleto Festival USA put Charleston on the map” — The Post and Courier
Spoleto has also served as a catalyst for cultural change in Charleston, aiding in the city’s flourishing as a top destination. Together with the city and community leaders, Spoleto has spearheaded the renovations of numerous performance spaces: Festival Hall, Dock Street Theatre, College of Charleston Sottile Theatre, and the Charleston Gaillard Center.
Since its inaugural season, Spoleto Festival USA has established itself as America’s premier performing arts festival. For 17 days and nights beginning the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, Spoleto fills Charleston with renowned artists and emerging performers in disciplines including opera, theater, dance, and a wide range of music—from symphonic and chamber to choral, jazz, and folk.
“Spoleto’s lineup is always tantalizingly diverse and talent-packed” — Departures
In a typical season, Spoleto mounts 150 performances in more than 10 venues. The Festival also produces its own operas, specializing in rarely performed masterpieces by well-known composers, American premieres, and traditional works presented in new ways. In its 45 year history, the Festival has produced and/or presented more than 20 opera, dance, and theater world premieres including Tennessee Williams’s Creve Coeur (1978); Arthur Miller’s The American Clock (1980); Laurie Anderson’s Empty Places (1989); Urban Bush Women’s Praise House (1990); Philip Glass’s Hydrogen Jukebox (1990); Lee Breuer’s Lulu Noire (1997); Huang Ruo’s Paradise Interrupted (2015); Carrie Mae Weems’s Grace Notes: Reflections for Now (2016); Ayodele Casel’s While I Have the Floor (2017); Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize-winning Omar (2022).
